How well do you know Asilomar? Of course, we all know it”s one of the gems of the Peninsula, with its acres of woods, restored sand dunes, glorious beach and stately Arts and Crafts buildings. And we know it”s the destination of choice for folks from all over for meetings, conferences, dinners, weddings and just plain relaxation.

But do you know that Asilomar was once a motel? That it has more “new” buildings than old ones? What the Stuck-up Inn was? Or the Pirates” Den? Do you know the connection between Asilomar and Hearst Castle? (OK, maybe that one was too easy.) Do you know the connection between Asilomar and the John F. Kennedy Memorial?

“There are lots of things about Asilomar that people aren”t aware of,” says architectural historian Jonathan Lammers. He will reveal these secrets on Sunday as the speaker at a Heritage Society of Pacific Grove lecture, “The History of Asilomar: Celebrating Its 100th Birthday.”

Lammers is with the historic preservation firm of Page and Turnbull in San Francisco. He spent over a year conducting detailed investigations of eight buildings at Asilomar. He is also an experienced preservation planner who has authored historic context research for the cities of Pacific Grove, Benicia, Elk Grove, Richmond and San Francisco. Lammers” work has received awards from the California Preservation Foundation.

“My lecture will focus primarily on the history and construction of Asilomar,” Lammers said. “This includes how and why the conference grounds were developed. We”ll touch on the career of architect Julia Morgan, the designer of Hearst Castle, whose early structures at Asilomar are now National Historic Landmark buildings. Plus, I”ll devote a large portion of the talk to changes that have occurred at Asilomar since it became a state park, in particular the newer buildings.”

Officially dedicated in 1913, Asilomar began as a seaside retreat where the YWCA held leadership conferences for girls and women. Morgan designed permanent buildings to replace the tent houses used by young conference attendees, and soon outside groups were clamoring to use the conference grounds for their events as well. But the Depression brought serious reversals of fortune to the YWCA, and its board voted to close Asilomar. Subsequent years saw the property used as a motel, a training camp and as military housing. Finally, in the 1950s, the YWCA sold Asilomar to the California State Park System. Along the way, its structures saw many changes.

“Most of the buildings have gone through a series of remodels,” Lammers notes. “The more recent ones were to add private bathrooms to the bedrooms. In the beginning, it was more important to get the buildings up. Amenities came later. The Visel brothers, who operated Asilomar as a motel during the Depression, added windows to buildings that just had fabric flaps before. These included the ”Stuck-up Inn,” which is what the female employees” residence hall was called, and the ”Pirates” Den,” which housed the male employees. Both halls are now visitor lodgings.

“After World War II and through the ”50s, a wave of remodeling took place in accordance with a master plan. Some new buildings were added by the architect John Carl Warneke, best known as the designer of the Kennedy Memorial. But Asilomar was also tearing down buildings as recently as the early ”70s. Fortunately, that ended in 1987 when Asilomar became a National Historic Landmark, and the emphasis changed to restoring the structures, if possible.”

Lammers” firm did the recent remodel of the Asilomar Administration Building, adding a new cafe. “We tried to do the design in keeping with the history of the place, while allowing it to function in a modern way,” he said. Special touches were added, such as re-creating a historic light fixture based on old photographic images. “I think this is an example of the kind of detail we will see more of in time.”

Jean Prock is a member of the Pacific Grove Historical Society.

If you go

·What: “The History of Asilomar,” a presentation by architectural historian Jonathan Lammers